Remember the cube?

I remember back in the 80s, young and old people alike were holding a multi-colored cube, called the Rubik’s Cube. Back then, the Rubik’s Cube became a “must have” toy before mobile phones and iPods.

This weekend the 2007 World Championships of the Hungarian-born Rubik's Cube will be held in Budapest, the birthplace of the cult puzzle. 300 candidates from 33 countries, including reigning champion Jean Pons from France, are expected to take part in the competition on October 5, 6 and 7, 2007.

Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik will be present. Rubik invented his "Magic Cube" in 1974 and obtained Hungarian patent HU170062 for the Magic Cube in 1975. The first test batches of the product were produced in late 1977 and released to Budapest toy shops.

The Rubik's Cube has nine square facelets on each side, giving 54 "facelets" in total, and occupies a volume of twenty-seven unit cubes in red, green, yellow, blue, white or orange that can be moved around a central hinge. The goal is to re-arrange the squares so that each side again displays only one color.

In 1982 at the World's Fair held in Knoxville, Tennessee, a 6 foot rotating cube was put on display at the World's Fair Park. It was moved and forgotten, after the fair. In July 2007, it was restored and placed in the Holiday Inn lobby that overlooks the park.

The first world championship organized by the Guinness Book of World Records was held in Munich on March 13, 1981. The official winner with a record of 38 seconds was Munich-born Jury Froeschl.

The first international world championship was held in Budapest on June 5, 1982 and was won by Minh Thai, a Vietnamese student from Los Angeles, with a time of 22.93 seconds.

I used to have one Rubik’s Cube. Nasaan na kaya iyon?